Life jackets, or more appropriately, personal floatation devices, have been in use for many years and no doubt have saved countless lives; hence the aptly coined label ‘life jacket’ has stuck. These life saving devices are used in almost all water activities to provide extra floatation in times when it is needed. Even the strongest swimmer will eventually find the need for a life jacket if exposed to open water long enough. Needless to say, they are a Coast Guard required safety device for all sea-going vessels, and are the absolute minimum that should accompany any water-borne recreational activity or excursion. Also, due to their added buoyancy, they are frequently used to help children and novice swimmers practise their skills at pools and beaches alike. It is from these everyday beach-going activities where the inspiration for our system originates. Not long ago, on a family vacation to the beach, we purchased a nice youth life jacket for our young 2 year old child. We were, of course, trying to be safe and err on the side of caution, even though we had no intention of allowing him out of our sight. Having him in the life jacket actually gave us a somewhat false sense of security in that if he got away from us in the water we knew he would float. Very quickly we learned that just having a life jacket on our boy was not enough to play with him in choppy water. The waves at the shore we were visiting, like most beaches, could very quickly go from fairly calm to very rough, which was unsettling. On more than a few occasions we really had to fight to prevent from being separated from our boy, even with him wearing a life jacket in only waist deep water. It was precisely then that we realised a life jacket, on its own, was not sufficient for our needs. Something would have to be done. We felt the strong need for an additional safety measure that would prevent a child from becoming separated from the parent and swept out into deeper water.